Tondalo Hall is serving a 30 year prison sentence for failing to protect her children from her abusive ex-boyfriend. The man, who admitted to breaking their baby’s leg, got out in two years. Hall, who was not ultimately accused of child abuse, must stay in prison.

Oklahoma’s parole board voted Monday to grant Tondalo Hall a full clemency hearing, the first step in her bid to leave prison early. Hall is pleading for mercy on her 30-year sentence for failing to protect her children from a violent abuser. The man who actually harmed her child got just 2 years.

The case of Tondalo Hall, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for failing to protect her children from abuse — while the actual abuser got only two years — will go before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board later this month. The case, part of a BuzzFeed News investigation, has received attention from a national advocacy group.

Alyssa Ramirez, a homecoming queen and cheerleader, died after flood waters swept her car off the road. She joins a growing list of victims from the devastating floods that have swamped the Great Plains.

Torrential rain early Saturday in the north Texas resulted in flash flood warnings being issued in a number of counties. At least 33 people have died in Oklahoma and Texas in the past week due to torrential rainfall, and nearly a dozen others are still missing. Another 13 people were killed in Mexico.

Executions have been placed on hold while the Supreme Court considers whether a controversial drug used in lethal injection cocktails is too cruel to use. With nitrogen gas, the state now has three other alternatives.

Questions are being raised about the duties performed by members of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, reserve sheriff program following the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a 73-year-old deputy who said he mistook his handgun for a Taser. The deputy also worked as the chair of the reelection campaign for the Tulsa sheriff, donated campaign funds, and purchased equipment for the department.

Robert Bates, 73, pled not guilty Tuesday to manslaughter charges relating to the shooting death of Eric Courtney Harris. The Tulsa Sheriff’s Office says Bates accidentally grabbed his gun instead of his Taser when he shot Harris.

Judge Kenneth Watson has backed out of his appointment to Oklahoma’s pardon and parole board. Watson had freed a battered woman from a decades-long prison sentence, and on the parole board was set to help decide the fate of another battered woman.